When Kevin Prince lost his battle to lung cancer in 2021, his death left a permanent hole in the lives of his wife Alyssa and the couple’s two children, Callie and Cole.
“They didn’t just lose a parent, they lost an unbelievably amazing father,” Alyssa Prince says of her late husband’s devotion to his children. “They were his whole world.” Callie and Cole describe their father as generous, patient, loving and selfless.
While still recovering from her loss, Alyssa discovered a way to turn her grief into action, and benefit future patients faced with the same challenging diagnosis. She organized a fashion show fundraiser at the Dolphin Yacht Club in Marblehead, Massachusetts, in partnership with local business owner Liz Steinfeld, to support Mass General Cancer Center thoracic oncologist Zosia Piotrowska, MD, MHS, and her research in lung cancer treatment — the very therapy that extended Kevin’s life.
Hoping for a Cure
“Finding out Kevin had stage 4 lung cancer at 41 years old was shocking, to say the least,” Alyssa says. “It started with simple back pain that led to an MRI and the MRI revealed a tumor in his lung. The stigma that comes along with lung cancer made everything so much more difficult — this perception that those with lung cancer somehow made poor choices leading to their diagnosis. Kevin never smoked and was extremely active, running races, hiking mountains and coaching sports. So, it’s important to us to raise awareness that anyone can be susceptible to this cancer.”
Upon diagnosis, Alyssa immediately reached out to a friend who is an oncologist to determine next steps. Her friend recommended Dr. Piotrowska, who put Kevin on a targeted therapy to treat his cancer, a daily pill that left him with no negative side effects and kept the cancer at bay by preventing the cancer cells from growing and spreading.
“We were told that for other patients, the targeted therapy had worked for approximately five to ten years, but we were cautioned that at any time, your body can reject the medication and then, the options for treatment would be less effective,” Alyssa says. “We decided at that moment we would be the ‘five-to-ten-year people,’ and within that time, we hoped there would be another treatment available or even a cure. We lived our ‘new normal,’ only focusing on the positive. Unfortunately, after about a year and a half, Kevin’s body started to reject the medication, and after a relentless fight, we lost him in August of 2021.”
During that year and a half, when Kevin was virtually symptom-free, the Princes lived their lives to the fullest, doing everything Kevin loved. The family ran, hiked, biked and even climbed Mount Washington at the height of winter to ski Tuckerman’s Ravine. They also began building their dream home in New Hampshire. Though the cancer eventually became untreatable, Alyssa is grateful to Dr. Piotrowska for giving the family extra time with Kevin.
A Serendipitous Partnership
After Kevin passed, Alyssa knew she wanted to give back in some way but was overwhelmed with grief and navigating her new role as a single parent. Serendipitously, Liz Steinfeld, owner of Liz Steinfeld Lingerie and a member of Dolphin Yacht Club where Alyssa serves as commodore, approached her about wanting to put on a fashion show to raise money for cancer research, unaware of Kevin’s lost battle only a few years prior.
“Liz could not have been a more perfect partner in planning Cure by the Harbor,” says Alyssa. “She knew how to handle the aspects of putting together this event that were intimidating to me, providing the entertainment, working with other local businesses, and so much more, and I had a cause to rally everyone behind. It really was fate that she pitched this idea to me before she even knew of my personal experience with cancer.”
Soon after Liz presented the idea, she and Alyssa began planning the inaugural Cure by the Harbor fashion show to honor Kevin, to celebrate the strength of their community and to raise funds to advance Dr. Piotrowska’s cutting-edge research. The sold-out event featured a live runway show, a silent auction with prizes donated by small businesses in Marblehead, food and drinks. Callie, the oldest of the Prince children, designed the Cure by the Harbor logo and recruited members of the Marblehead High School Fashion Club — for which she is president — to volunteer; while the youngest, Cole, helped set up the space ahead of the event. Both children stood by their mom’s side as she thanked guests, including Dr. Piotrowska who graciously attended.
“It meant the world to me to be a part of Cure by the Harbor with the Prince family,” says Dr. Piotrowska. “I’m grateful for their continued dedication to supporting our work in improving lung cancer treatments. These funds will create opportunities to advance this research and help more patients and their families.”
The event was an incredible success with the Cure by the Harbor team raising $25,000 for Massachusetts General Hospital. “It was so special to have everybody there,” Alyssa says. “We sold out days before, and folks in our community are already asking about next year. This is only the beginning.”
“Fundraising for these groundbreaking targeted therapies gives us hope that other families won’t have to go through what we had to go through,” say Callie and Cole.
“Kevin was really the most amazing dad and human and losing him was devastating,” Alyssa says. “But it’s meant so much to us to turn his passing into a way to give back.”
To support lung cancer research at Mass General, click here.
